Sabbath Greetings from Alison (from Ontario!)

[Rev Alison Mock]

Dear YKUC Friends:

This is a quick note to say hello from Ontario, where I made it back in the nick of time for a busy first weekend of my vacation. Lots of you were kindly checking on James, Finn, and me throughout last week, and did so much to ensure that our bonus time in Yellowknife reached peak summer joy. All three of us flew home on Friday morning's redeye, and landed at Pearson at 6:30am (yawn). 

There was just enough time for a nap before springing into action! Friday night, I was in Winona (near Niagara) for their annual peach festival. Fifty United Church, one of the smallest congregations in Canada, would not be able to keep their doors open without the fundraising efforts of their United Church Women, who bake (wait for it) over 2300 (twenty-three HUNDRED!!) peach pies to sell, along with their world-famous peach jam, peach jelly, and sweet & sour sauce. What can I say, a UCC minister has to do her part to support her wider flock (burp). Delicious.  

On Saturday, I was so grateful to attend the Celebration of Life for my Aunt Linda Hurst, who died on the United Church's 100th birthday, June 10th. We also celebrated the life of her husband, my dad's older brother Bill Hurst, who passed away in Nova Scotia back in 2016. Linda was an utter goofball who made family dinners so much fun for kids. She was a creative talented seamstress who collected elephants, cooked fantastic meals, and was forever telling jokes. She was also famous for her butterscotch pie (it was a full weekend, pie-wise). I had the chance to visit with family I hadn't seen in 20 years, and it was a good day indeed. Derek and I also celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary on Saturday, and it was our son Alex's last day in Ontario before heading to Vancouver for 2nd year at UBC.

This morning, I had the privilege of preaching at Erindale United Church, where I was baptized in 1981 and confirmed those vows in 1995. Whenever I walk through the doors, I am welcomed as family, and we had a wonderful morning together. Unexpectedly, I was preparing this sermon while still in the Yellowknife Manse, and so Bev and I flipped a coin for who would preach which text. She tackled the Call of Jeremiah, and I worked on Luke's story of healing on the Sabbath. If you'd like to hear my take, the link is below. (It's a recording from my home, because my microphone went haywire during the service, and the EUC recording isn't great. I didn't notice until afterwards that my cat, Abbey, is attempting to steal the spotlight.)

https://youtu.be/CN4oCcGIKAI?si=cx_DIvPBXZc0phmn

And now, I'm packing again! I'll spend the next three days in Vancouver, helping Alex round up the furnishings for his new digs (this means IKEA in the last week of summer, pray for me), before coming home to relax in earnest. I'll return to Yellowknife in time for the service on September 21st. In the meantime, I have a few questions for y'all:

1. Who likes doing jigsaw puzzles?

2. Does anyone have access to ukeleles or guitars, or play same?

3. Does anyone have a globe they'd be willing to part with?

Enjoy your time with Bev and one another, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Cheers

Alison

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Rev. Alison Mock

Minister, Yellowknife United Church

5403 - 50 Avenue (Franklin Ave)

Yellowknife, NT

Mobile: 647-287-4489

Church Phone: 867-873-6291